


Watching Over You All

by keylimepie



Series: Charlotte 'Verse [2]
Category: Supernatural
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gabriel Has Issues, Gabriel and Kids, Guardian Angel Gabriel, Guilty Gabriel, M/M, keeping secrets
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-22
Updated: 2017-01-22
Packaged: 2018-09-19 07:08:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,572
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9424745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/keylimepie/pseuds/keylimepie
Summary: Gabriel has been slacking off on some of his guardian duties, but perhaps that's for the best.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Part of a series, kind of a prequel timestamp thing. Might not make a lot of sense if you're not already entrenched in it. 
> 
> **Dear my loyal readers, I have a sad story to tell and it's that my netbook won't charge and my WIP's are trapped. :-/ Hence no new chapters for the big one, so enjoy this fix**

_October 2010_

Gabriel sat on a motel room bed, leaning back against the headboard, covers tucked around his legs, Sam deep in sleep by his side. This morning, Gabriel was thinking about other humans who had fallen under his protection besides Sam. 

“It's been some time since I checked on them,” Gabriel mused as his thoughts centered on a particular duo. Well, it had been a busy few years. The impending Apocalypse, his death, his resurrection, rescuing Sam from the cage in Hell, getting in between Castiel and Raphael's dumbass war, killing Raph in self-defense... it had taken a lot out of him. Not much downtime to check on his favorites. Now that Sam's recovery was well underway and the world had kind of normalized, he could pop away now and then. Never very long; this thing between them was too new and fragile, and far too important. 

Gabriel had, of course, assured Sam over and over again that he was desperately in love with him and that he had no intention of skipping town. And he knew that Sam loved him too. He gazed down at Sam's face. “You're gorgeous, my Samshine, body and soul,” he whispered. And, in sleep, Gabriel could see the subtle similarities between Sam's face and that of the human he was pondering visiting today. 

For many months after his return to Earth, Sam had needed Gabriel's constant presence. Dean or Castiel would do as well, but Gabriel had been Sam's steady companion. Eventually, the panic attacks improved as Sam better reoriented himself to the reality that he was safe now, and somewhere along the way they'd become best friends. The need for togetherness had become a desire. The nightmares lessened, though Gabriel still did ease those occasionally. And then, just about six weeks ago, Sam had had a sudden epiphany and in a stroke of boldness, had pulled Gabriel in for that first kiss. Their lives had become irrevocably entwined as they fell further and further in love with every kiss. 

But they had space now, like a normal couple. Sam went with Dean on hunts, often with both Dean and Cas; and rarely, if Gabriel felt that Sam might be particularly in danger or there wasn't anything good on TV, all four of them went. Gabriel flitted around on “trickster business”: tricking people, teaching lessons. In truth, he was just as likely to answer the desperate prayers of the faithful devotees of Saint Gabriel or of Loki as he was to deliver deliciously divine justice. He preferred to let Sam think that he was up to his usual tricks so Sam could scowl and disapprove and remind him not to kill anyone. 

When he felt Sam stirring by his side, Gabriel brushed back a lock of hair – dear Father, that boy had gorgeous hair – and kissed his forehead tenderly. “Hey, Sam-a-lam-a-ding-dong,” 

“How about if you never, ever say that again,” Sam groaned, stretching and groping blindly at Gabriel. He grabbed a knee and gave it a squeeze. 

“Eh, I'll think about it. Babe, I'm heading out for a few. I expect Dean'll be calling you any moment about a different thing, and I've got a thing, so...” he kissed the tip of Sam's nose. “I'll catch you wherever you end up, okay? Pray when you've got a location.” 

“I wish you'd get a phone like Cas.” Sam, slightly more awake and oriented now, slid his hands up the back of Gabriel's tee shirt, flattening his palms over the scratch marks still there from last night. 

“Mmm. Silly human invention. I don't need- ohh yes, right there,” he sighed as Sam's hands slid around to the front and flicked across his nipples. Sam grinned wickedly and pinched. “Okay, I'll get a phone, I'll call you whatever, whenever, just get out of those clothes,” Gabriel panted. 

An hour later, freshly showered and dressed, Gabriel finally kissed Sam goodbye and snapped out of their motel room. Gabriel pushed out a tendril of Grace, seeking a specific human. Honed in as he was to the Winchester bloodline, it was easy enough to find her. 

Unseen, Gabriel sat on a park bench. It was a gorgeous autumn day in Pennsylvania and the park was full of shouting children and attendant parents. Woodchips crunched under little sneakers, and trees dropped brown leaves here and there. One section of the park was set aside for smaller children, with shorter steps up the play structure, a little slide, and secure toddler swings. 

Gabriel watched one little girl carefully. She had just passed her second birthday. A little on the short side for her age, rather like her mother in that regard. With green eyes, a freckled nose, and fine, stick-straight blonde hair, the resemblance to Dean Winchester was startling at first glance. Gabriel blinked. Yes, that was there, but there was a certain commonality of the Winchester look that they all had. There was plenty of Sam in this child, too. Those cheekbones, those ears. The nose, identical but for scale. The same things he'd seen in his first glimpse of her moments-old face. 

The child was climbing the steps, sliding down the slide, running around the side of the play structure to repeat the process, over and over again. Her mother, seated just a foot to Gabriel's right on the other end of the bench, was chewing absentmindedly on a lock of light brown hair, the curl soggy with spit. She was reading something on an e-reader. Gabriel leaned over to scan the page – something about how the early Dutch settlers had built their houses. An absolute snoozer, but she was scanning the page rapidly and highlighting bits here and there. Probably writing another local history paper, in between all that archivist stuff that was her regular job. He'd attended some conference nearby two years ago, watched her give a talk about Lenape villages of the 17th century, while a hired teenager had rocked and patted and soothed that baby girl in the back of the audience. 

No one had noticed him there, of course. Gabriel had a policy of invisible-only visits since the time he had stupidly kissed her. No one had noticed the shapeshifter in the back of the audience either, posing as some history buff, the original of whom it had consumed. They hadn't even noticed when Gabriel caught the creature alone in the parking lot and vaporized it quietly. He didn't think the creature was particularly seeking the Winchester infant that few knew existed, but he had increased vigilance for a while until he was certain that all was well. Then everything went to Hell. Or at least Sam had, and he had, and that was pretty much the same thing. 

The mother – Melanie, that was her name, Melanie Weiss – shifted in her seat, twisting to bring one leg up on the bench, right across Gabriel's invisible lap. Damn, she had nice legs. Plump calves, soft fleshy thighs, and hips you could really grab onto. If you weren't, you know, happily partnered and madly in love. He stared at the denim-clad limb as she frowned at her book and rubbed her wrist irritably. Gabriel brushed his Grace across her. Ah, she was in pain, that was why she was fidgeting. Stupid fibromyalgia had fired up. No matter how many times Gabriel tweaked those symptoms, they always came back by the time he visited again. He turned the pain back off and watched her visibly relax. Her pretty blue eyes scanned the playground, spotted the familiar blonde fluff still bobbing along where it ought to be, and returned to her reading. 

Gabriel shifted over to where the kid was, brushing his Grace across her. Perfectly healthy, safe, and sound. Satisfied with this check-in, he was about to snap himself out of there when Melanie put her reader down and sat forward on the bench. “Charlotte!” she called. “Come have a drink, Sweetie.” Gabriel watched the little girl run toward her mother on those wobbly little legs. She climbed onto the bench and took the sippy cup with a giggle. Melanie looked down at her, her eyes shining as the toddler snuggled against her happily. Gabriel sighed. Oh Father, they were so precious. 

Sam should be here, he realized with a guilty ache. Sam should know that he had a daughter. And if he knew... well, Sam was a good man who would do the right thing. He'd be here with that kid, and with that lovely woman. He'd probably even offer to marry her. And Gabriel would just be a fling of the past. 

But they were okay, these two. Melanie was strong and determined in her way. She was up to the task of single motherhood, though the bags under her eyes and the stress hormones floating around in her blood showed that it certainly wasn't easy. Gabriel stroked an invisible hand across Melanie's curls, then Charlotte's soft baby chick fluff. “You don't need him,” he said quietly. “But I'm old and greedy and I do.” He bowed his head as tears dripped onto his shirt. “Forgive me, Father. I'm so sorry but I can't... I can't lose him. I'm just going to leave it lie how it is.” 

The archangel snapped his fingers and left the park, heading to lie in a snowbank in Alberta and wait for Sam's prayer to summon him back to his side. 


End file.
